I recently stayed there as well for 4 nights...first time in Turkey - would definitely go back again!
Here's a quick trip report & my thoughts...
The Arrival:
Arrived at IST around 4pm after a 10 hour nonstop flight from IAD (Visa process took about 30 seconds & $20US). We booked an airport transfer through
Backpackers Travel for 30 euros (must pay in cash in euros - at least that what my buddy who booked it said - there were 3 of us & we got a minivan. The hotel did offer transport in a Mercedes sedan for about 110 euros, I believe. Traffic was a total mess, and I'm sure a metered taxi would have been the equivalent, given the taxi. For what it's worth, we had a 7am flight to ZRH when we left & took a taxi back at 4:30am - it was 50 Turkish Lira (with tip...exchange rate at the time was 1.87 TL = 1 USD = 1.29 Euro) - but we also flew with zero traffic...so about $27US or 20 euros - if I were to go again, I'd pay the 30 euros to have someone waiting for me at IST & no risk on the costs with traffic and a really small taxis).
Got to the hotel - service was good from the bellman to the check-in process. There is a metal detector & an x-ray machine there (but it seems that there's one in a lot of places - you have to go through one to enter the mall across the street). The check-in isn't a typical front desk - it's literally a desk where you sit & they sit and check you in and register. The front office manager checked us in & made polite conversation throughout the process - a very warm & welcoming check-in. We were then escorted to the room by the front office manager where he pointed out the features of the rooms. The room has electronic drapes, shades, and sheer curtains, great lighting options, and a electronic curtain between the bedroom & the bath (similar to the Cosmopolitan in Vegas where if you want to you, you can watch your partner while he or she bathes, from bed
)
The Rooms:
We had booked standard rooms - the rooms were spectacular, for standard hotel rooms - and quite large. The layout was great - King size bed (great pillows) with a very large almost U-shaped (think 2 L-shaped) couch. Large coffee table. Mini-bar (wet-bar with good sized bottles of Vodka, Rum, and Whiskey available) - lots of closet space, safe, good amenities (shoe horn, complimentary shoe shine available, 2 robes, slippers), and a great bathroom.
About the bathroom - very much a spa feel. The design is a very modern luxury design. There is a separate soaking tub, a separate "toilet room" with bidet and frosted glass. The shower was awesome - it was quite large. These rooms have very high ceilings & the shower was a rain-shower with option telephone showerhead. There was a loofah/scrub mitt provided as well.
The Restaurants:
There's a Cipriani's there - didn't try it as I'm not much into Italian food - and I was in Turkey, so I was going to eat a lot of Turkish food! It only offers lunch & dinner (although the in-room guide implies breakfast).
There's a lobby bar that you can order room service items in. The couple I was with ordered room service twice - the prices were quite reasonable given the luxury of the hotel and the quality and quantity of food and the exchange rates.
We did have breakfast at the hotel's breakfast buffet one morning - it was 60 TL per person. The options were good - note that the sausages were beef or chicken (pork/bacon wasn't offered, likely due to it being a mostly Muslim country) - fresh fruits, cereals, juices, eggs, pancakes, breakfast breads, breakfast meats, etc...nothing special, but not bad.
The Fitness area & Espa:
The spa is located on levels -4 and -5 (yes, 5 floors underground - I think it goes to -7 to +14) . The entrance is on -5. You can just change in your room & wear the robe & slippers down if you want to go to the pool (FWIW, I'm 6'1" - the "large" robe was a bit tight). The fitness center was an above average hotel gym - state of the art equipment & a weight room with complimentary bottled water & headsets for working out on the machines if you want to listen to music or watch TV while running.
There is a Hammam (
see pictures on the picture gallery link in the spa. I received a welcome letter prior to arrival offering 20% off spa services if I booked them at least 3-days prior to arrival. I didn't use the spa, but my friend's wife did - she got a half-day treatment that was about 300 TL...she loved it - that was without the discount as it was booked same-day.
The pool area was pretty nice - there's only about 10 lounge chairs, but that wasn't a problem & it was never crowded. The pool (pictured in the link above) was big enough for laps. There was a relaxation pool as well that offered 4 "in-water massages" (not really sure how to describe it much better) - I thought it was a giant jacuzzi, but it wasn't really hot water, it was warm water, but not hot.
There was a steam room (spectacular way to end the day after walking around all day & it was quite cold...in the older part of the city, a lot of cobblestone, so wear good shoes), a dry sauna, and a snow room. Before a treatment, the sauna opens your pores and the snow room closes them after a treatment.
The fitness center is open 24 hrs a day - the pool/sauna area is open from 7am to 10pm - although the in-room guide says 6am.
The Location:
The hotel is located in Levent - which, from what I gathered, is the financial district. It's right on a main road. The Levent subway stop is literally next door, so getting to the old town area is quite simple. There's a mall called Metro City across the street (one of the days it snowed quite a bit - so we went to the mall...there's a food court & about 4 levels of shopping). Not the best location from a leisure perspective if you want to be right in the middle of it, but with the subway literally next door, easy access to tourist destinations. For business in the financial district, probably a good location.
Other Notes:
Keep in mind when you're looking at a subway map that some lines are subways (like NYC), other lines are a funicular car, and other lines are above ground trams (like AMS). It's 2 TL for each ride. So, if you want to ride from Levent, where the hotel is, to Hagia Sofia. It's 2 TL for the subway, 2 TL for the funicular, and 2 TL for above ground tram. Many people had cards, but we just did everything on a pay-per ride basis. You have to buy a "Jeton" which is a plastic token coin from a machine. Either buy a bunch up front or use small bills as if you use 20 TL note to buy 1 token, you'll have 18 coins in change your pocket.
First day, we took all the transporation options above....after that, took the subway to Sisiphane (sp? end of the line) and walked - it's a very walkable city).
I used the ATM near at the airport. There are 3-4 ATMs right near the entrance to the Levant station. The one on the far left, if you have a US bank account, will charge 3% currency conversion. The ING ones do not & the other ones do not. There's an ING ATM in the subway station right before the train entrance.
For those that don't want to eat Turkish food all the time, there's a McDonald's, a KFC, and a Pizza Hut near the hotel...we did the McD's breakfast one day when we wanted to get out early...it was pretty expensive, relatively speaking, and the sausage on a sausage McMuffin was weird. They do have the deep fried apple pies, which are delicious & not available in the US!
The food court at the mall has US & Turkish options - we had lunch there on the snow day.
Taksim Square has some great "burrito-like" kebab options from the walk-up restaurants...good "street food" and cheap! Also, a very busy shopping/people watching district.
There aren't a lot of bars in Istanbul!
If you have *G access, get to the airport early enough to enjoy the Turkish Airlines lounge - it's probably one of the best I've been to.
Public transporation is easy to use & safe to use.
There's a club, the Billionaires Club, in the hotel...on Friday night, we saw a Bugatti parked out front as well as some other great sports cars & luxury cars - so it seemed to be a luxurious clientele.
Final thought:
I would definitely go back to IST & stay at this hotel. It was an great property with great service and a great staff. I didn't encounter any challenges with people not able to speak English during my stay.